Design Thinking Masterclass— 18th September 2024, was the day when JD Institute of Fashion Technology students assembled for an afternoon that would leave them motivated and inspired. It was the much-awaited masterclass on Design Thinking. The atmosphere was heady, literally so full of excitement and hope, students were looking forward to increasing their knowledge and skills and preparing to dive into a world of innovation-design thinking. It was going to be an inspiring tour of the capability of design to create value and creativity.

The masterclass was conducted by the illustrious Ginevra Franchi, who has vast experience within the practice of design thinking and is also the co-founder of Cono Studio, a well-known consultancy firm based in Milan. With this excellent background, cutting across continents and design disciplines, Ginevra brought with her an amount of knowledge and experience for the students at JD Institute to learn from. She began her undergraduate study of graphic design at the venerable School of Visual Arts in New York City before jumping into product design at Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan, where she was awarded a Master’s in Design Innovation Strategy & Product scholarship. While running a thriving design consultancy, she teaches Design Thinking and Startup Innovation at IED Milan and travels to deliver workshops across Europe. They received several design awards, innovation, and strategy awards for Ginevra and Cono Studio. 

A Deep Dive into Design Thinking: Lessons from Ginevra Franchi

As the masterclass began, Ginevra didn’t waste time catching the audience. She introduced the core principles of design thinking and put it into a better simple context that described it as a user-centric approach. “Design thinking,” she explained, “is a mindset that combines empathy, creativity, and rationality. It allows us to solve complex problems by focusing on the needs of the user. It is about understanding who you are designing for and why.”

A robust introduction reminds students with backgrounds in everything from fashion to interior design of the key role empathy plays in the design process. Warmly, she spoke about how design thinking can allow brands to connect very, very deeply with their audiences and create meaningful differentiation in markets that can be extremely competitive.

Ginevra broke the real scenario she had worked on at Cono Studio by interacting with her students on projects that she had developed based on their case studies. Through the case studies, she proved that design thinking wasn’t only used to solve a problem but in anticipation of where and what the problem would arise later and what trends could be expected. She asked students to be active in that process and also showed how designs could come together in harmony with the requirements of the user. 

Interactive Learning: Applying Design Thinking in Real-Time

Truly in line with the interaction characteristic of design thinking, Ginevra ensured that the masterclass was an interactive and hands-on affair and not just a lecture. She then split the students into small groups, one that was assigned to improving the sustainability of fashion products and the other, to improve the functionality in interior spaces through the application of principles from design thinking.

The classroom was buzzing fairly enough with activity as students brainstormed, sketched, and debated solutions. As she did throughout the process, she moved through the groups offering guidance while giving them guidance on brainstorming bold ideas – though they might appear rather unorthodox at first.

One of the high points was when a group of students came up with the concept for a modular, green fashion line: it was to design a system where garments could be redesigned in various styles, so they would not go to waste and, thus, would not be used up much.

Ginevra was very impressed by the creativity and how they focused on the needs of the user, noting that they applied all the basic steps of design thinking to a current challenge. 

A Cherished Learning Experience

At the end of the designing thinking masterclass, students from JD Institute had gained enormous understanding of how the principles of design thinking easily applied themselves in various industries and sectors. Ginevra’s teaching was not only practical but inspiring enough to guide the students to actionable insights they would find ways of implementing into their work right away.

The Q&A session by the end of the day provided the students with an opportunity to ask Ginevra all those things they wanted to know about her work, the future of design, and what else they could do to further develop their skills in design thinking.

It was not just a workshop; the Design Thinking Masterclass at JD Institute was a well-rounded end-to-end journey in the heart of creativity and innovation. This journey, indeed, made all participants enthusiastic and rejuvenated enough to lead value through design.